Cold Heat
by nycorrall
Summary: Partnered up with him on a school project, Paulina starts to develop feelings for Danny. Now she's torn between the two Danny's and, to top it all off, the teen cheerleader has a bounty on her head and is being sought by a ghost. In all this chaos, will Danny be able to keep his secret? revelation!fic  Editing in Progress.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: My first official fanfic. Hope you like it! I apologize beforehand for any mistakes that I make. Stories shouldn't be written at 1 in the morning...but I'm doing it anyways.

Rated T for some english and a whole bunch of spanish cuss words.

Speaking of spanish, anything written in foreign language will be translated at the end of the chapter.

I don't own Danny Phantom.

It was an average day for a seemingly average class at Casper High. Mr. Lancer had spent his whole day teaching the class in that bored, monotone voice of his. His dreadfully long lecture finally ended a few minutes before the dismissing bell rang. He briefly described their upcoming assignment, which involved researching an 'influential person in the history of politics' with an assigned partner. He continued to read the list of partners.

"...Manson with Mr. Foley. Ms. Sanchez with Mr. Fenton..."

Two students straightened up in their seats, one of those students being Paulina Sanchez herself. Paulina: the beautiful and shallow cheerleader, the girl at the top of the school's social pyramid, the one that most girls wanted to be and plenty of boys wanted to date.

Her horror matched that of her assigned partner, Daniel Fenton.

Daniel—preferred name: Danny Fenton—slumped back into his chair, the horror look dissipating from his face and replaced by an annoyed frown as the bell rang. The stunning Latina gracefully rose to her feet and slipped her bag over one shoulder.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker fearfully realized the classroom was suddenly desolate save for themselves and the head cheerleader.

Paulina made sure her newest Prada bag intentionally smacked into the back of Danny's head as she spun around to face him. Her blue-green eyes narrowed as she glared at him with obvious fury. "Listen geek," she hissed through her perfectly glossed lips, "If you cost me my grade, you'll regret it. I promise I'll make your life a _living hell_if that grade falls anywhere near a D."

Danny visibly shuddered as the Queen Bee silently slipped out of the classroom, her perfectly round butt swaying with each step.

"Dude, what's the matter with _her?_" Tucker, Danny's techno-geek best friend and partner-in-crime, muttered as he began rising out of his seat.

Samantha Manson (commonly referred to as Sam: Danny's gothic, headstrong best friend and confidant) strapped on her purple spider-looking bag. "Haven't you ever wondered why Paulina always chooses nerds for partners? It's obvious; all she wants are good grades. The bitch is furious about getting stuck with Danny."

"Great," Danny mumbled as he stood up, "I barely have time for homework, much less a stupid research project." He gulped shakily as his eyes widened in sudden realization. "Oh man, Paulina's gonna eat me alive."

Tucker smiled as the trio exited the classroom. He pulled out his PDA and began punching in a code. His eyes never left the screen even after he spoke. "Man, are you kidding? Paulina's the hottest girl in school! You should be excited, dude!" Tucker grinned as a picture of the cheerleader appeared on his screen.

Sam smirked and folded her arms over her chest as she gave Danny a sideways glanced. "Well, at least we get to watch you get tortured." She grinned when her best friend flashed her an irritated glance. Sam sighed and softened a bit at the sight of her depressed friend. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Danny. Paulina's shallow. She's only worried about getting a good grade, so you have power over her. Use this to your advantage. Don't let her shove you around anymore."

Danny opened his mouth to respond but was, instead, interrupted by a familiar blue mist that escaped his parted lips. The young boy groaned in exasperation. "Aw man. Can't these ghosts give me a break?"

He quickly scanned the empty hall and smiled, grateful that school was over, much to his advantage. Two rings appeared at his middle before travelling in opposite directions. His ebony hair turned snowy white, his white-and-red tee shirt and blue jeans were replaced by his black-and-white jumpsuit, and his icy blue eyes transformed into a glowing green color. The rings disappeared, transforming him into his alter-ego, Danny Phantom.

A loud wail suddenly echoed through the open doors of the school building. "Will you be my friieeeend?"

Sam chuckled slightly when the irritating voice reached her ears. "Good luck with Klemper. If you need me, I'll be at the new gothic store that opened up."

Tucker adjusted his glasses and briefly glanced at his best friend. "You're on your own Danny. If there's an emergency, just call."

Danny gaped as his friends quickly scurried out of the room. They all knew Klemper wasn't the most powerful ghost, but he was definitely extremely annoying. "Sure, thanks for the help, _guys._" Danny rolled his eyes and shot out the window, searching for the familiar nuisance.

:~:~:~:~:

Paulina had been walking home, angrily filing away at her defenseless nails. The shallow witch had been furious: her day had grown increasingly worse. First, she broke a nail during first period. Then, one of her supposed friends stole her favorite purse. Moments after, she had been partnered up with grades-barely-hanging-on-to-average Danny. And, finally, Dash had dumped her right after school.

Now, here she was, running for her life as a ghost in the most _hideous_pajamas chased after her. "_Dejame en paz!_" 1 Paulina howled as she squeezed through the empty alleyways of Amity Park. She knew no one would save her now, especially since this side of town was usually deserted.

Paulina shivered as the temperature instantly plummeted and ice suddenly coated the roads. All it took was a wrong step to send her sliding across the road, flailing around uncontrollably. The beautiful Latina squeezed her eyes shut, the tiniest bit of hope she had been holding on to suddenly disappearing from her heart.

She yelped loudly when she felt her petite body bump into another person. She gasped and peeled open her eyes only to find that her hands were placed on top of a stranger's nicely toned chest. She moved her fingers a bit, noticing the familiar DP logo. She held her breath as her gaze travelled upwards until they met a pair of glowing green eyes.

"Ghost boy!" She squealed ecstatically. This day had suddenly taken an interesting turn for the best.

"Yeah..." The teenage ghost-fighter replied as he gently pried her off of himself.

She watched with starry eyes as he pulled out his Thermos. There was a brief flash of light that engulfed the strange ghost and ensnared him, the fight ending before it had even begun.

"Wow! You're so amazing!" Paulina cried out, daring herself to hop just a little bit closer to the young hero.

"Oh, uh, thanks." The ghost boy rubbed his neck uncomfortably before turning away from her, ready to take flight.

"Wait!" Paulina yelled, causing him to give her a weary glance. She fiddled with a strand of her wavy, dark hair and mustered up every ounce of courage she had. "Would you mind meeting me at the Nasty Burger tomorrow?" She blurted out before biting her bottom lip with excited anticipation.

"Uh..." the ghost boy awkwardly rubbed one of his arms, and Paulina felt disappointment well up inside her because she knew _exactly_what he was going to say. She recognized that look. It was the look that nice guys gave to their pitiful crushes. And, she was ironically playing the role of the pitiful crush.

"I can't," Phantom replied.

Even though she had already anticipated his rejection, she still fought to blink back sudden tears. She couldn't comprehend any of this. Being rejected was a completely new concpt to her...and she could hardly understand why anyone one would say no to Paulina Sanchez.

The ghost boy sighed in defeat. "I mean, I can't say for sure but...um, I'll try to come. I'll see you at six, okay?"

Paulina gave him a hesitant smile, which he accepted before flying off.

Paulina felt overjoyed and, yet, she still felt slightly disappointed. Why had he rejected her? This wasn't how it was supposed to be. She always got the boy. Always.

The girl huffed. She knew Phantom was seeing her simply out of pity. A pity date. She tried to push her thoughts away but to no avail. She turned, and began her longest walk home.

:~:~:~:~:

"I can't believe I said yes!" Danny shouted as he angrily thrust open the door. Sam walked past him and dropped herself onto Danny's bed while Tucker sat on a rolling chair, positioning himself in front of Danny's newest computer.

"Uh, Danny?" Tucker began as the electronic device hummed to life. "Paulina's the hottest girl in school. You were crazy about her! What happened?"

"Paulina flipped me off a couple of weeks ago." Danny explained as he sat on the edge of his bed. The mattress groaned beneath his weight.

Tucker snapped his gaze to Danny. "What? Why?"

Sam instantly sat up and crossed her legs beneath her, sitting indian-style. "Because," Sam explained, "Paulina tripped him and she ruined her nails in the process. She blames him for ruining her manicure. I saw the whole thing." Sam scowled. "I swear, I can stand in a puddle of Paulina and never get my feet wet. 2"

"Oh, that's rough," Tucker muttered as his incredulous gaze morphed into a pitiful one.

"So, what do you think she's doing now?" Danny wondered out loud.

Sam shrugged. "Probably torturing innocent children." She paused and added, "Either that, or picking out an outfit to wear for tomorrow."

:~:~:~:~:~:

Paulina ransacked her drawer, frantically searching for something cuter to wear. In her anxiety, she'd chosen the Nastyburger instead of another, more romantic place. She briefly wondered whether it would be rude to ask him to move the date somewhere else.

The Hispanic girl sighed with disappointment. Who was she kidding? She was fooling herself if she believed she actually had a shot with him. He probably had dozens of prettier girls asking him out all the time. Because, in addition to his hero status, Phantom was brave, strong, confident, and good-natured. Not to mention _extremely_ cute.

She sighed for the second time that night and threw herself onto the bed. He probably even had a girlfriend by now. But, all she wanted was a chance to get to know him at least a little bit. A small, real conversation with the boy.

Even if it was just once...

A/N: I know this starts off kinda slow, but I promise there'll be more action in the next chapter. Plus, I'm hoping to get some reviews...PLEASE REVIEW!

Also, I'm willing to hear any and all suggestions and ideas you throw at me!

~face pales~

Wait! Don't throw it too-! ~shattering noise in the background~

Hard.

1) _Dejame en paz!=_Literally, this translates to "Leave me in peace." It's actually a spanish expression meaning "Leave me alone."

2)A/N: I'm sure you all know this, but that comment is from Parental bonding.


	2. Chapter 2

The following day, Paulina hurried out of her class. She had been anxiously waiting to get back home so she could at least make herself look decent before her meeting with Danny Phantom. She had been scurrying through the halls when that Fenton kid had suddenly stopped her, asking her something about scheduling a day to work on the project or some other nonsense.

"Back off loser!" She snapped as she quickly dashed towards the exit door. Star, her only true best friend, somehow managed to quickly fell into step beside the frantic cheerleader. "So, Paulina. Why are you in a hurry?"

"I've got a date! I have to get home now! Plus, my _papi_ will kill me if he finds out I'm with a boy!" She abruptly stopped and turned to face her blonde friend. "Can you-"

"Cover for you? Hell yeah. Don't worry girl, I'll just tell the warden that you're at my house. Go have fun!" The petite blond winked at Paulina.

"Thanks Star! You're the best!" The distressed Latina waved at her amiable friend before rushing out the school doors.

"Bye, Paulina!" Star called out with another wave.

The instant Paulina arrived home, she changed into her newest outfit before giving her father a quick good bye. She arrived at the Nasty Burger in a matter of minutes, thanks to Dash who'd given her a ride.

'It's a good thing Dash is a total moron1,' she thought to herself. That idiot was too easy to fool.

Finally, she stood outside in a half tank top she'd once worn at Ember's concert and black capris2 only she had a blue clippy in her hair instead of a wig.

Finally, _he_arrived. She gaped, completely astounded at the sight of the teenage superhero. For a moment, she thought her eyes were deceiving her. The ghost boy was wearing a black t-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers. It was very...casual. And completely unexpected.3

She smiled as he leaned against the exterior wall of the Nastyburger.

"Uh, hey. Paulina?" He rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, and she couldn't help but wonder if this was a habit of his. "I was wondering if we could hang out somewhere else? Somewhere, you know, quieter and, um, less crowded." He cleared his throat nervously, a small ounce of guilt lighting his gorgeous eyes.

Paulina smiled at him, relief pouring through her. "Sure," she replied.

And, then, he did something even more unexpected than his casualness. Danny Phantom swooped her up into his arms. Bridal style.

The hero immediately turned invisible and wasted no time as they flew out to a small secluded area at the park. She squeaked with surprise when she realized how close they were. His body was—of course—wired and lean, well-built. This, she had expected, but being in his arms wasn't part of her expectations. Paulina stared up at him and felt her face heat up at the sight of his solemn face staring straight ahead, his snowy white bangs ruffled by the wind. Was she blushing? Paulina Sanchez _never_ blushed.

"Sorry, I just didn't want the...attention from other people." Phantom muttered as he descended, gently letting her go in the process.

She nodded shyly as she took a wobbly step on the ground.

"So, what did you want to meet me for?" Danny sighed and ran a hand through his white locks.

Paulina bit her lip. "Well, actually, I just wanted to talk." She admitted nervously, keeping her voice steady and calm.

The ghost boy seemed taken aback. "Really? Th-thats all?" He questioned with a suspicious glance at her.

"Of course! What did you think I was gonna do?" She inquired curiously.

Phantom shrugged. "Probably that you'd demand me to take you out somewhere and have me help you cheat at bowling..." He paused and continued, "or something like that." The ghost boy's eyes glazed as he briefly retreated into a memory.

Paulina cocked her head to one side. _What would make him think that?_ She wondered with a frown. He plopped down to the ground and stretched his legs out, seemingly wrapped in his own thoughts.

Phantom shook his head and softly patted the grassy area, motioning for her to sit beside him. She obeyed.

"Never mind. It doesn't matter. So, what do you want to talk about?" He glanced at her, his glowing green eyes making her heart flutter.

"I don't know. I just wanted to get to know you a little better." Paulina admitted as she batted her eyelashes at him. Disappointment welled up inside her when he didn't even react to her most famous move. "So, um...where's your favorite hangout?" She asked making a quick recovery.

"The Nastyburger." He replied automatically. She furrowed her brows. She hung out there all the time but she'd never seen him there...

Danny glanced at her then his eyes went wide with sudden realization. His expression passed as quickly as it came. "Um, I mean...before I died, that is. I can't exactly hang out there like this anymore."

Paulina nodded. She wanted so desperately to know about his death, but she figured asking him a question like that would be much too personal. She didn't press the matter any further and quickly dismissed her thoughts. "Uhm, did you have any careers planned when you were alive?"

"Yeah. I want to be an astronaut." He smiled gazing up at the sky. "When I was a kid, I used to watch the stars all the time."

She blinked and stared at him. He'd said _'want'_not _'wanted.'_AND he didn't even bother in paying the slightest bit of attention to her.

"Oh." She sighed feeling disappointment wash over her once again. It was an unfamiliar feeling and, yet, the strange emotion was becoming frequent ever since the previous day. "You didn't really want to come here, did you?" She sighed and hugged her knees to her chest.

Danny glanced at her and instantly covered up the dull expression he wore. "To be honest..." He sighed in defeat and let his face betray his true emotions. "Well, no. Even my friends warned me not to come."

Paulina blinked. The ghost boy had friends? She wondered how many ghost friends he had...and whether or not he had any human friends. He continued. "No offense, Paulina...but when I was alive I went to high school, too. And girls like you were _not_ the friendliest people around. I even used to have a crush on a girl just like you. But she...well, let's just say I got over her."

"I know." Paulina admitted. "I'm like that, but I was raised with parents that ignored me, like, more than half of my life. And, when they did pay attention, it was only to scare off my friends." She paused then added, "And my dates."

Phantom chuckled in amusement. "Ha, yeah. I know." The ghost boy smiled as he retreated into another memory: the last time he'd met Paulina's _'papi.'_Thankfully, she didn't seem to notice his reaction to her father and continued.

"But, because of them, I've learned how to get what I want when I want it. Nobody messes with me and I get as much attention as I want." Her eyes dimmed sadly.

"I understand." The ghost boy nodded. "But, just try to be a little nicer to the kids who aren't A-listers, ok?" He glanced at her.

Paulina frowned. She wasn't even sure whether or not she remembered how to be nice. "Um, okay. I guess I'll tr-"

She was cut off when she heard an unusually loud noise. A rough hand grabbed her from behind and instantly covered her mouth, preventing her from making any noises.

Phantom leaped up and rose to a battle stance as he faced his new opponent. He furrowed his brows. "Skulker?"

1) Micro-Management

2) Paulina's outfit is actually based off the episode Fanning the Flames.

3) Danny's outfit is also from Micro-Management


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, I feel like I'm only talking to one person. Thanks to Easternbluebird for reviewing. And, I guess I forgot to mention my disclaimers in the previous chapters. Well, If I owned Danny Phantom, then my lifelong dream of having two flying ponies is real**

**...so no. I don't own Danny Phantom and I only own ONE flying pony. The other one belongs to my sister...**

"Skulker?" Danny looked up to see a large metal ghost with flaming hair and green eyes.

"Well, ghost child. What an interesting surprise." Skulker replied in that familiar-yet-annoying deep voice of his. "Found yourself a new girlfriend I see."

"What?" Danny yepled incredulously as he glanced at Paulina who was flailing under the ghost's steely grip. "Okay, we are so not dating! Geez, do all you ghosts always jump to conclusions? Everytime one of you guys see me with a girl, you immediately assume we're dating!"

Not that they were always wrong. He technically _did _have feelings for Sam.

"This one will make a great prize." Skulker tightened his grip on Paulina's thin arm and she dangled limply as he rose a couple feet into the air. Green goo was plastered on her mouth preventing her from screaming out. And, yet, even with the goo on her sealing her lips, her muffled shouts were still pretty loud.

Danny extended his arm, his hand faced Skulker as it began to glow an eerie green color. A shot of ectoplasm was released and Skulker immediately ducked out of the way.

Paulina's face scrunched up into a glower, and Danny couldn't help but notice how cute she looked when she was annoyed. Skulker regained his composure and several guns appeared from his shoulder. Suddenly, Paulina did the unthinkable.

The slim girl swung her leg up and used her sharp and painful-looking heel to powerfully kick Skulker's arm thick, metallic arm. The hunter was caught by surprise and he immediately released his hold on her as he glanced down at his dented arm. Danny dove down and caught Paulina's wrist. Then, with his free arm, he shot another ecto-blast at Skulker who went rocketing in the opposite direction. Danny gently set her on the ground as she smiled proudly.

"How'd you do that?" Danny asked in an incredulous but impressed tone.

"I'm a cheerleader." Paulina explained. "For Casper High. That means I can kick really high."

"Yeah, I know. But, you kicked Skulker really _hard_. Almost as if you're used to kicking people."

"Oh," Paulina furrowed her brow. "How'd you know I was a cheerleader?"

"Oh, well...I, uh, saved your school once during a pep rally from this ghost named Spectra."

"Oh. Ok. Well, I I lived with my tia **(1)** and my two cousins. Alex and Enrique." Paulina smiled as sudden memories of her cousins flooded her mind.

"Okay, well we better get going or my mom's gonna-"

"You have a mother?" Paulina asked in surprise. "Is she, you know, alive?"

Danny mentally slapped himself and attempted to make a quick recovery. "Yeah, she's...still alive. But, I don't want to talk about her because it might put her in danger. Now let me take you home. And, don't worry, I know where you live. I, uh, know where a lot of people live." Danny explained.

Paulina nodded. Of course, as a hero Phantom _had_ to know the area extremely well.

The ghost swooped her up in her arms, once again, bridal style then leaped up into the air. Paulina found herself blushing throughout the whole ride.

:~:~:~:~:~:

Danny swung and kicked an unusually large Squid spirit in what he assumed was the stomach. Tucker then showed up and promptly sucked the ghost into the Fenton Thermos.

"Danny! Come on! We'll be late for class!" Sam shouted. She flailed her arms, motioning for the boys to hurry up. Danny flew down and caught Sam and Tucker in each arm. He went intangible and flew through the school walls, finding themselves in an empty closet. As soon as Danny transformed into his human self, the trio swung open the door and fled back to their classes. Tucker breathed out a sigh of relief as he glanced at the clock. "We made it with two minutes to spare." He announced gratefully.

Danny smiled and glanced at a panting Sam. "Now I have the chance to talk to Paulina."

Sam smiled. "Good for you. But, we better sit down before Mr. Lancer comes in."

And with that, the three friends slid into their usual spots as Lancer finally walked in.

Danny sighed and leaned against his seat, waiting for class to end. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the bell rang.

The boy mustered up the little bit of courage he had and stomped up to Paulina.

He was surprised to see that, for once, she wasn't staring at the reflection her compact mirror provided, as she usually did. No. Instead, she seemed to be gazing away deep in thought.

Apparently, the latina hadn't heard the dissmissing bell. Danny took a deep breath. 'Here goes everything,' he thought.

:~:~:~:~:~:

Paulina stared up at the board. Was she really that shallow? If the ghost boy used to be a loser, then wouldn't that mean any one of these losers had the potential of becoming a teenage superhero? But, that was besides the point. Phantom protected the innocent and only beat up the bad guys. If the losers didn't do anything wrong...what did that make her? A bad guy? A bully...

She was definitely aware of the horrible things she did to other people. She wasn't that clueless. And...she hated to admit that she knew it was wrong. So why _did_ she do it?

Sure, she'd always used her father as an excuse. And her home life. But, there were people who'd been through worst. So, her excuses were...inexcusable...

"Hey." A voice startled her out of her thoughts.

"What?" she snapped in annoyance as she looked up at Fenton.

She was surprised to find that he wore a determined look on his face, for once. And, somehow, in his determination, he almost seemed to resemble someone...

"Listen, Paulina, I don't mean to be rude, but I can not do the project by myself. So, unless you want an 'F' on your paper, you'd better start picking up your own weight and help me out because, unlike you, I actually have more important things to do after school than go to the mall." His eyes flickered guiltily before resuming their slightly annoyed look.

Paulina noticed all eyes were on them now. And, that half of the class were already frozen, apparently having been heading out the door. Class was over?

"Well? Are you gonna help me or what?" Danny's voice remained stern and steady.

The room became tense. No one had ever talked to her like that. Ever. She blinked, shock written all over her stupified face. And, all she managed to say was-

"Okay." She calmly replied, slowly rising up to her feet.

"What?" Danny looked taken aback. Confused.

"You're right, Danny." She admitted. "Tomorrow, meet me in the library at five." She began walking out the door when Dash, the muscular football player, blocked her path and he didn't look to happy.

"Are you gonna let Fen-turd talk to you like that?" He growled as Fenton and his friends began walking out the door, whispering amongst each other.

She bit her lip and blinked. For some reason, she kind of suddenly had a new respect to Danny for standing up to her like that (even though it _was _kind of rude). She admired him for being brave enough to talk in front of the whole class, a feat even Dash couldn't do. And, for another reason, it annoyed her hearing Dash talk about the Fenton kid like that.

"Yeah. So what? Back off _pendejo_ **(2)** before i claw your eyes out with my perfectly-manicured nails." She threatened with an icy tone. "Get out of the way, _estupido_." **(3)**

And with a final glare she walked outside where her best friend waited for her.

**A/N: He, he. Here are the translations for some of Paulina's spanish vocabulary. Tia means aunt and pendejo is a very bad word in spanish. I would prefer not to translate.**

**Oh! And I based Paulina's cousins off of my own family. Alex is ma cuzin and Enrique is my Tio (uncle) fun little fact for ya. Anyways, please review! 'Cause I've only got one reviewer. Anyways, review and I will give you half a million dollars. HAHA! Yeah right! That ain't happening anytime soon.**

**But seriously, review.**

**P.S Whichever one of you readers added me as story alert, I'd really appreciate a review...PLEASE! XD**

**1) **_**Tia= aunt**_

**2) Pendejo= Spanish cuss word. I'm not entirely sure what it means. Maybe, stupid or mother f*cker, or...hm. I'm not **_**too **_**sure. My friends say it all the time, though.**

**3) **_**Estupido= stupid, idiot, moron, etc.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Yay! Another update. And thanks for the three of you who added my story to their favorites and alerts. But please review. I wanna know how the this is going so far! And as for the other people who've ALREADY been reviewing **

**THANKS!**

**I don't own Danny Phantom. Or a turtle which I've been begging my mom to buy me.**

Danny scratched his head in confusion. "Did she just agree to help with the project?" His mind refused to process Paulina's agreement.

Sam smiled encouragingly. "Maybe she took the advice Phantom gave her," she offered. Her amethyst eyes clouded over skeptically.

Tucker pulled his aze away from his PDA long enough to focus on Danny and Sam. "Dude, if that's the case, maybe she'll consider hooking me up with Star," Tucker's eyes gleamed longingly as he withdrew into a dream-like daze.

Danny rolled his eyes and a smirk lit up his formerly confused face. "Tucker, your dream of having two Star's and me as your janitor is never, _ever _going to happen."

Sam chuckled at Danny's comment; Tucker merely scowled. "Hey! That dream was supposed to be personal!" He shouted.

"Anyways," Sam interrupted, brushing him off. "Paulina probably took your, er-Phantom's advice. You know what they say, people do the craziest things when they're in love." She pulled her gaze away from her best friend and withdrew into the same dreamy look Tucker previously worn.

Danny's eyes widened with fear as he gazed at his completely-out-of-character best friend. "Hello? Earth to Sam!" Danny frantically waved his hand in front of Sam's face.

"Oh, uhm, sorry." Sam blushed, snapping back to reality. "I was, uh, daydreaming." She cleared her throat nervously.

Tucker scrutinized her. "Geez, what's been up with you lately?" He rolled his eyes as he began typing through his PDA (the previous one having been destroyed during a ghostly battle).

Danny smiled, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "She met a guy at the goth poetry thingy," he explained.

"Ah." Tucker nodded understandingly. Sam scowled and sent daggers in Tucker's direction. Tucker opened his mouth, ready to make a snarky remark.

Danny cut him off with a sigh. "Anyways, I gotta meet Paulina in ten minutes." He said glancing at the electric clock near his bed. "I'll text you guys in case of an emergency."

Sam and Tucker nodded in response. They each bid their farewells before Danny turned intangible and flew through the wall and back towards the library.

When he arrived, Paulina was standing right outside, her glossy lips tugged down into a deep frown. Her dark hair was pulled up into a high ponytail; her sparkling eyes gazing seemingly nowhere and trapped in deep thought.

Danny-as-Phantom ducked behind the buildings wall and reappeared from around the corner as Fenton. "Uh, hey." Danny greeted nervously, slightly guilty for interrupting the pondering latina.

She blinked and gazed back at him, her sparkling eyes meeting his own bright blue ones.

"Hey." She replied before falling back into her silent state.

The two teeneagers remained motionless for a few seconds, neither of them quite sure of what to do next. Danny decided to be the first to break the silence. "You wanna go inside?" He gestured towards the door wooden doors of the library. The situation was already becoming uncomfortably awkward, and he hated the tense silence.

Paulina sighed. "Okay, sure." And they went inside.

They library was nothing special. It was small and slightly cramped with its shelves lined up in narrow rows and the building too crowded with teens preparing for their own assignments. The old ceiling had a few broken peices, revealing the moldy inside. The few desks that were placed in the library were worn, and the walls' paint seemed to be deteriorating. Many citizens had uselessly begged their mayor to have the old building repaired but to no avail.

"So what do we have to do our project on?" Paulina asked as they glanced around the bustling room.

"Well, Lancer said that all we have to do is research an author and write a full page biography on him...or her. Both of us have to do it and it's due tomorrow." Danny briefly explained.

"Tomorrow?" Paulina groaned. "We're so screwed! I'm not gonna have this finished by tomorrow." She sighed and ran a hand through her sleek waves.

"Nah. We can do it." Danny smiled with positive encouragement. "Besides, I already have some ideas. I got 'em when Ghostwr-ah, It's a long story." He interrupted himself, a brief memory of his truce with the writing-ghost flashing through his mind. Danny led her down an aisle, briefly reviewing through each of the books' summaries.

In an hour, the couple had finished, both of them walking out of the old, cozy place with copies of their typed paper, which they each tucked away into the safety of their bag. Surprisingly enough, Paulina had cooperated, doing what she was supposed to do without whining too much.

Danny felt relaxed. His day had calmy breezed past, and no ghost had come to interrupt them. Not once.

So, when Paulina then offered to stop by the mall for ice cream, Danny had quickly agreed. Mostly in an attempt to take advantage of the serene day.

They went out, ate, and chatted up a series of mini debates about the authors they had studied. (Paulina was astoundingly quick with words and extremely convincing.)

Afterwards, much to Danny's astonishment, Paulina agreed to go see the astronaut stuff he'd mentioned earlier. The beautiful prep surprised him more when she admitted that NASA was, indeed, truly fascinating.

"See? NASA is the best. You know, I have a cousin who's just like me and-" He

was cut off by a blue mist that escaped his parted lips. He bit back a groan.

Paulina pulled her gaze away from a model of their solar system. "And, what?" She questioned, slightly curious.

"Uh, would you hold on a moment? I...need to go to the bathroom."

She looked up at him expectantly and nodded.

The raven-haired teen dashed off and slipped into the nearest empty stall, transforming himself into the famous -or infamous- Danny Phantom.

He immediately shot out from behind the stalls and hovered in the air for a while, reappearing in the mall courtyard. A quick glance around, confirmed his suspicions.

People of all ages had suddenly sprung up; everyone had begun blindly running in all directions. Danny silently blamed Paulina for dragging him to the mall.

Then his eyes caught sight of an unfamiliar ghostly figured who was chasing a familiar girl.

"Paulina!" Danny cried out. He dropped down and levelled himself with the new messy-haired, red-eyed phantom.

"Who the heck are you?" Danny questioned as he kept at the same pace of the speeding ghost.

"Hey back off! I found her first." The spirit growled. "That reward is as good as mine! _She _is as good as mine." The ghost trained his eyes back to Paulina who'd easily dodged through the crowd of people. Danny shot an ecto blast at the ghost and sent it hurdling through the air.

The ghost simply growled and turned intangible as he sank beneath the ground.

Danny sighed and decided to let the ghost go, seeing as he hadn't thought of bringing his Thermos. He then dashed out and saw Paulina running...

He blinked. She was running _away _from the exits, _away _from safety.

She was coming back. But why?

And, that's when realization sank into Danny as he saw the direction she was running to. It was the store where he had left her.

"Dang it! She probably thinks I'm still there!" He flew back to the store, turned human then ran out to the entrance where he instantly crashed into Paulina.

"Paulina?" He blinked.

The girl in question was panting heavily and sweat was beginning to form on her almost-flawless, perfectly tan skin. "Danny! It's-there's a ghost and I-well, it chased me and I came back to warn you!" She gasped and scowled as she briefly glanced at a broken nail.

A loud thundering noise came from behind, startling both of them just as Danny's ghost sense went off.

He fished his cellphone out of his pocket and sent Sam a brief text message, then he grabbed Paulina by the wrist and went running.

A familiar voice echoed from behind the escapees as they dashed out of the store. "I, Technus, Master of all things Technology will capture you weak, spineless humans _aaaand_ the reward!"

Danny rolled his eyes as he struggled to pull an exhausted Paulina to safety: her pace had slowed dramatically.

Danny glowered in annoyance at the girl's weariness. "This is taking too long!" He muttered. H instantly stopped and swooped Paulina up into his arms just as she released a surprised yelp.

"D-Danny! You're really strong!" Paulina noted.

"Now's not the time! Where the hell is Sam?"

No sooner had he uttered those words, he heard a voice call out, "Danny?"

Tucker.

Danny snuck a glance back and saw his friends running dangerously close to where Technus was building his new armour of technolgy.

He set Paulina down. "Go call for help. I'll be right back."

Paulina hesitated before nodding and running off, exiting the now empty and nearly destroyed mall.

Danny spun on his feet as he felt the familiar blue rings appear on his body.

He then hovered over Technus, they exchanged some witty banter, Danny froze every bit of the rambling ghost before allowing Sam to suck his technology-obssessed enemy into the Fenton Thermos. The fight had only lasted a few seconds.

"Come on, guys," Danny glanced at his best friends. "We need to find Paulina. I have a feeling she's in danger right now."'

The trio glanced at each other and nodded.

:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:

Paulina finally arrived home. As much as she argued and lashed out, Danny and his friends had politely walked her home and, through their whole stroll, Paulina and Sam continued to argue. She was drained and tired, and all she wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep. She was finally making her way up the stairs when her father's voice stopped her.

Paulina's father was a big man with a skin tone just slightly darker than her own. His dark hair had begun to gray and, tonight, his eyes seemed to withhold a familiar weariness.

He gazed down at her, his equally blue-green eyes clouded with an expression she knew all too well. "Pauina, I need to tell you something."

Paulina hesitated before crawling back down to the bottom of the stairs."_Mi hijita_,I'm -I'm going on a business trip." He paused and continued to speak in his accented voice. "I'll, uh, I'll only be gone for about a two weeks this time. Maybe a week and a half if everything goes well."

Paulina swallowed hard. "Okay, papi," she murmured quietly, averting her gaze.

"But," her dad added hurriedly, "when I come back, we'll go to the mall and buy you whatever you like. _And,_ I'll even get you that new car you've been wanting."

Paulina smiled broadly, easily hiding her depressed state. "Okay,_papi_. I understand."

Her facade was too perfect but, honestly, she really didn't want to stay by herself that whole week by herself. An idea occurred to her. "Hey, _papi_? Is it alright if I stay with a friend while you're gone?"

Her dad nodded, obviously relieved that he didn't have to deal with any emotional distress. "Whatever you want _amorecito_, just ask for permission first because I'll be gone by tomorrow in the afternoon."

Paulina smiled. And she knew exactly who to ask...

:~:~:~:~:~:~:

"No." Star replied the following day at school.

"What? Why not?" Paulina inquired with a heartbroken stare.

Star's bright eyes dimmed with guilt. "'Cause I'm grounded. I was, like, caught sneaking out and, like, I got busted big time. No social contact for a whole week! That includes cellphones, computer, leaving the house and inviting friends!" Her face instantly fell.

"Sorry, Paulina." She paused and then a sly smile appeared on her cute face. "But I bet that Fenton kid would totally say yes!"

"What?" Paulina yelled, causing several students stopped to glance at her sudden outburst. Star nodded.

"Sure!" Star insisted. "You like him, he likes you. He's not busy and it's obvious he worries about you, judging by everything you told me. Why don't you think about it?"

"I don't like him-"

Star cut her off immediately, launching several reasons on why to ask Fenton to take her in.

And that was how Paulina reluctantly ended up trudging over to Fenton's desk that same day in Lancer's class.

**A/N: I'm convinced I need more action. I'm still open for any suggestions. **

**I'll be typing up chapter 5 in the meantime...and i'll be eatin **_**elote. **_**Corn on the cob. ;D**

**Please review and, yes, I do accept flames!**

_**Hasta luego!**_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Well...I don't have anything to say except...**

**I don't own Danny Phantom**

That afternoon, Danny came home with Paulina. He introduced her to his parents who happily agreed to take her in after a brief explanation of what had occurred between the young girl and her father. He then proceeded to introduce her to Jazz who was simply annoyed when Danny interrupted her study session. His whole family acted completely insane the whole time which annoyed Danny greatly, so he immediately led her down the hall into Jazz's room before his family decided to embarrass him even more so than they already had.

"And you'll be staying in here while Jazz crashes in my room." Danny opened the doorto the too-clean room that belonged to his older sister. It was unsurprisingly filled with books on psychology, ghosts, and plenty other incomprehensible things.

Paulina smiled and dropped her bag on the floor. "Okay." She responded.

"Oh...and I have to apologize...for my family. They're a bit…uh, eccentric sometimes." He paused and corrected himself. "Well, they're like that all the time." Danny sighed as he glanced into his sister's room purposely avoiding Paulina's eyes. She probably already had enough of his parents by now.

"Thank you Danny." Paulina spoke abruptly.

"For what?" Danny asked, confusion lighting up his bright blue eyes. "For letting me stay here. And, your family is really nice. I like them already." Paulina turned to face him.

Danny hadn't moved from his spot at the doorway and she took the snatched up the opportunity to plant a kiss on his cheek. "Good night, Danny," she murmured quietly.

"G-goodnight." He muttered as his cheeks instantly began to redden. She slowly shut the door behind her as he simultaneously turned and walked back down the hallway. Danny slipped into his room and flung himself onto the bed. His heart was beating wildly and his face was still flushed from the kiss she'd given him. Why was he feeling like this? He thought he'd been over her! He mentally reminded himself that the only reason he even took her into his home was because her life was in danger.

He sighed and reluctantly opened his laptop, silently signing into video chat.

"Finally!" Tucker's face appeared on the screen. "I've been waiting for you to log on! I found ou-"

"Guess what!" Sam cried out, cutting off Tucker. She didn't wait for a reply before answering her own question. "Devon asked me out!" She laughed ecstatically. Danny and Tucker blinked. She was acting unusually, not to mention creepily, happy...and excited. An action they'd never anticipated from Sam.

"Congrats." Danny replied simply.

Sam rolled her eyes and stared at the screen. "I seriously need more girl friends. Maybe I should call Valerie..." She muttered.

"Hello? Guys?" Tucker huffed in annoyance. "As I was saying, I looked up some stuff on the internet and found out that there really is a reward on Paulina's head. Apparently, every ghost has seen this poster by now. The reward is this." Tucker held up a picture to the screen for Sam and Danny to see. It was a small simple box that looked eerily familar...

"It allows any ghost to freely travel between the Ghost Zone and the Human World." Tucker explained then added, "Or, at least, that's what I think it does."

Danny blinked, recognition suddenly pouring into his memory. "You're right Tuck. It's just like the one my parents invented, the one Johnny stole. We can't let any ghost have that..and we have to protect Paulina." Danny pointed out.

"She's staying at your place right?" Sam asked curiously. "Then, she should be fine."

"For now, at least." Tucker pointed out. "But, why would anyone want Paulina?"

Everyone withdrew into a solemn state as they carefully analyzed and researched any possible information they could find on the mysterious person. All they got was location points as to where the prize was to be delivered. After what a long while, they all logged off reaching no conclusion for their questions. Who wanted Paulina? And why offer such a big prize? More importantly, what were they going to do if they caught her?

:~:~:~:~:

The following morning, Paulina woke up and immediately got up to go to the bathroom. She quickly grabbed a pair of clothes, her toothbrush, her shampoo, and conditioner then slowly trudged out the door and turned down the hall. She sighed and wearily followed the path she assumed led to the bathroom. She felt relief wash over her when she finally found it. She turned the knob and automatically pushed open the door.

Danny stood in the middle of the bathroom. His hair was messier than usual and their were bags under his bright eyes. His feet were bare...and apparently so was his chest. She gaped. He wasn't muscular like Dash but he definitely had a nice, lean body that obviously showed he worked out enough to keep a slight build. Danny glanced at her with a tired look and then his eyes widened as he glanced her over.

Paulina was wearing a pink tank top and too-short shorts, and her hair was probably extremely messy. Both of their faces turned a bright red color as Danny hurriedly dashed out the door and back into his room, while she immediately slammed the door shut and locked it. Her heart was racing and she frowned when she saw her reflection. Her face was beet red.

Paulina was stupefied. How come Danny never looked like that in school? _'Because of those ridiculously baggy clothes,' _she thought to herself.

The latina sighed and then grimaced. Why did he have to see her like that? She probably looked horrible!

She irritably flung her stuff on the floor then grabbed the toothpaste.

After a brushing her teeth and a taking quick shower, Paulina hurried back into her room with a bathrobe and a towel on her head. She slipped into her new room and threw the towel on the bed. She had begun unpacking her makeup case when she heard the the knock on the door.

"Uh, Paulina?" Danny's tentative voice resonated through her mind.

"Uh, yeah Danny?" Paulina froze in her spot as she listened intently.

"Sam, Tucker, and I were going out to go bowling and I was wondering if you wanted to come." Danny asked after a quick pause.

"Okay. Uh, I'll meet you outside in a while okay?" She threw on her pink mini shirt and blue capris before quickly slipping on her favorite white flats. She briefly applied some purple eye shadow and, with that, she was done.

Luckily, Paulina's beauty was a natural one, so she didn't put make-up on as frequently as she used to. All she wore was an occasional lip stick, and powder when she had a zit. (Well, her skin had never been completely flawless. And that pesky mole...)

Paulina glanced into the mirror to find that her blue-green eyes were lit up with an unusual excitement.

When she opened the door, she saw Danny wearing another baggy white t-shirt but this time, instead of the usual oval in the center, it had an o with a slash across it: Ø. **(1)**

"You have a different shirt on for once." Paulina smiled approvingly.

"Huh?" The boy glanced down at his shirt and blinked. "Oh, yeah." Danny nodded with a small smile. "So are you ready?" He glanced her over and she, for some reason, she found herself wondering what he thought of her. "I'm ready." She smiled, shaking away her thougts.

"Where are your parents?" She wondered out loud.

"Downstairs at the lab working on some new invention." Danny frowned then added, "And Jazz is out with her friends at the library talking about Yale or some other nonsense."

"Oh. Okay then, let's go!" She squealed and began tugging him out the door.

The Fenton couple's voice caused her to come to a sudden stop right at the bottom of the stairs. "Danny! Look! We finally finished our new invention! We're going to test it out!" Paulina hesitated, her interest peaked as she glanced back at Maddie who poked her head out from behind the basement door.

Paulina's gaze was pulled back to Danny. His eyes widened. "NO!" He shouted before anyone had the chance to object. "BYE MOM! BYE DAD!"

He instantly shoved her out the door and instantly kicked up his pace, seemingly eager to flee from his parents' home.

_'Wow, Danny's fast _and_ strong?'_ She wondered how many new surprises she was going to find out about Danny.

Oddly enough, Tucker and Sam were already waiting for them outside. The instant they grouped together, tension crackled in the air.

Sam shot the latina a death glare the instant those amethyst eyes met Paulina's blue-green ones. "Paulina." She growled.

"Sam." Paulina's words dripped with equal disgust.

"Well, you two aren't dead yet." Tucker commented. "That's gotta be some improvement."

"Can we just leave?" Sam snapped. "Not that it matters, but I've got a date in a couple hours."

Paulina's curiousity replaced her animosity towards the goth. "Really?" She asked carefully. "Who with?"

"A guy named Devon." Sam's lips tugged upward into a small smile that lit up the goth girl's fair face.

"Really? Is he cute? Does he have nice eyes?" Paulina's eyes sparkled instantly. She had been so eager for a girl talk since Star had been grounded.

"He's sweet and nice and and good-looking...and goth!" Sam smiled as Paulina squealed.

"No way! That's so sweet!" Paulina reached out and placed a hand on Sam's shoulder. Sam didn't pull away.

Danny and Tucker blinked. "Geez. Is this how girls always react when they get a date?"

Paulina shot them a girl. "No. Not all the girls. Ugh, boys." She rolled her eyes and giggled with Sam.

Danny and Tucker were both stunned as Paulina kindly smiled at Sam. "I will never understand girls." Tucker stated simply.

:~:~:~:~:~:~:

So far, everything was going great. People had finally stopped staring at the odd group of friends with disgust and confusion. Instead, the four of them were being loud and their mirth was drawing attention a lot of attention. People cheered, whooped and went 'aw!' when necessary.

Danny was so far taking the lead with 170 points, then Sam with 150 points, Paulina with 149 points and Tucker with 95 points.

Paulina stood her ground and began to calculate her next move. The prep and the goth were neck-and-neck and, just as the game was at it's best, Danny's ghost sense went off. He inwardly groaned and silently complained at his horrible stroke of luck.

"I gotta go to the bathroom!" He called out suddenly.

"_Ay puta_!**(2)** Danny! You scared the hell out of me! _Por Dios_**(3)**!" Paulina rolled her eyes and focused back on the game.

Said teen muttered a brief apology and quickly excused himself and slipped out the back. He'd heard a loud noise coming from there, and he was extremely relieved for remembering to bring along the Fenton Thermos.

The ghost hovered in the air right outside the alley. He had glowing, green skin and his eyes were completely red and pointy ears. **(4)**

The man eyed Danny. "If you're here, that means the girl's in there. Paulina's mine!" He sneered.

**A/N: YAY! I finished chapter 5! I can't wait to post Ch.6! But i gotta take a shower, and get ready for piano**

**1) Danny's t-shirt is from Identity crisis**

**2) **_**Ay puta! = Aw, shit.**_

**3) **_**Por Dios!= **_**Literally translates to '**_**For God**_**' but is interpreted as 'For heaven's sake.'**

**4) See prisoners of love. he's one of the random characters behind the box ghost**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Grrr! My computer shut down on me so I had to retype this WHOLE freaking thing! So I'll go ahead and retype it. ~sighs~ This is gonna take a while 'cause I'd written alot. DX**

**If I own Danny Phantom, then...I'm the tallest girl in school :3**

**PLEASE r&r! i accept flames!**

"Oh, come on! We were finally getting along and you just HAD to interrupt us." Danny rolled his eyes. "Im goin ghost!" Two blue rings appeared at his middle and seperated transforming him into Danny Phantom.

An ecto-blast narrowly missed his head. "Hey! Shouldn't you be in Walker's Prison or something?"

He shot an ecto-blast at the ghost and punched him hard across the face. The ghost staggered backwards caught off guard.

Surprisingly, though, the ghost was incredibly fast and he was cleverly using his speed to his advantage as he swiftly dodged Danny's attacks and shot him with ecto-blasts."

Danny ducked to dodge the ghost's attack but he managed to get a scratch on his hazmat suit. Some red blood tinged with green leaked out. "Darn it! Now I need to fix this again!"

The ghost **(that i never named)** instantly flew upward. Danny smirked. "You're fast. But, seriously dude, freeze!" His eyes flashed an icy blue color that glowed just as he released a blue beam from his hand. The ghost instantly turned to ice and plummeted down to the ground. Danny sucked him into the Fenton Thermos without a single hesitation.

"Hello ghost child!" A voice bellowed from above. Danny's eyes narrowed in annoyance as he thought: _Seriously, can't these ghosts ever give me a break? _Then he said out loud, "Skulker, don't you ever give up? Seriously, I'm not in the mood."

"Actually, I don't. But lucky for you, I'm not after you right now. I need the girl for the reward."

Danny scoffed. "Yeah, right. Good luck with that."

A voice suddenly pulled his attention to the ground. _Talk about bad timing._

"He was like 'No way!' and I was like 'Yes way!'" Paulina chattered as she exited the bowling alley with his two best friends.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Paulina, didn't you already talk about this at that stupid camping trip?"

"No! That conversation was with Dash, this one was with Kwan!" **(Claw of the Wild)**

Danny groaned inwardly and was about to float back down when he heard Skulker's voice. "You should know by now not to turn your back on your enemy ghost child."

An ecto-blast hit his chest and Danny could feel the ground rushing up to him. His back collided with the ground and Danny groaned, squeezing his eyes shut in pain.

"That's gonna leave a mark." He opened his eyes only to see a familiar face staring down at him.

.ooooo

Someone came falling out of no where and landed right in front of the trio. Paulina automatically ran over to the kid and stared down at him. Her eyes fell on Danny Phantom!

He sat up and groaned. "That's gonna leave a mark." He peeled open his eyes. She froze. Instead of their usual glowing green, they were now a familiar icy blue color that glowed.

"Phantom?" She questioned.

"P-Paulina?" He sat up quicky and glanced up at Tucker and Sam. "Oh Crap!"

He glanced back at Paulina. His eyes were green again. She let out a breath as they both stood up.

"Y-you're eyes, they were-"

"Ghost child!" A voice bellowed from above.

Danny's eyes flashed blue and a cocky smile formed on his lips. "Dude, you seriously need to chill out."

A glowing, icy blue aura instantly engulfed him and was soon followed by the afore-mentioned icy blue eyes. His hand started glowing and a blast of energy shot out instantly freezing the metal ghost.

Paulina blinked. She'd seen those eyes before...

**A/N: LOL. I finally finished Ch. 6 which was originally alot longer but I'll just add the rest into ch. 7. Ch 6 was hard 'cause my sis and cousin are watching me but i know this secret code. It's basically symbols replacing the alphabet so they have NOO idea what I'm writing. Lol. They are suspicious about it being a story but I refuse to admit it,**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: LOL! Ch. 7! Enjoy!**

**I don't own Danny Phantom. Or El turt. :(**

Phantom stood up as his icy blue aura faded away. His eyes returned to their glowing green color.

_Why do his eyes look so familiar? _Paulina wondered. It was bugging her. She sighed in defeat she simply couldn't remember.

A random thought suddenly hit her. Danny!

"Oh my gosh! Where's Danny?" Paulina cried out. The only reason the three of them had even gone outside was to look for Danny. "Where'd he go? Is he hurt? Is he-!"

Phantom immediately cut her off. "He's-! Uh...I already, uh, saved his life. He's somewhere out here. Safe. Fine." Phantom smile seemed forced.

"Shouldn't you be, uh, capturing ghosts or something?" Sam asked.

"Yeah! Fighting ghosts, and...saving the town." Paulina frowned. Tucker sounded like a bad actor.

"Gotta go!" Phantom leaped up into the air and turned invisible.

"Wait! What about Da-"

"Hey guys! What'd I miss?" Fenton walked out of the bowling alley with a small smile planted on his cute face.

"Danny!" Paulina squealed and threw her arms around him then, realizing what she was doing, she pulled back with a slight blush. "Are you okay?"

Danny blushed then glanced at Sam and Tucker before answering. "Sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Wait," Paulina began, "The ghost boy said he saved your life. If that's true, why'd you come out of the bowling all-"

"Hey! Would you look at the time!" Danny cried out suddenly. "There's only ten minutes left 'til Sam's date!"

"What?" Sam growled with a look that could kill. She turned around and grabbed Tucker's wrist. "Come on! You're the geek with the ride!"

"Wh-what?" Tucker stuttered as Sam began hauling him away. "B-but-Wait! Help!"

Paulina glanced back at Danny. Danny shrugged with a smug smile. "What? He's technically not asking for help from _me _specifically."

Paulina's face broke into a smile. "Danny! _Pendejo! _There's still an hour until Sam's date."

Danny laughed a joyous laugh that made Paulina's heart flutter. "I know Paulina. So, now that they're both gone, you wanna go to the movies?"

Paulina's smile fell instantly as heat began crawl up Paulina's face. "What?"

"Sure. The next movie's in ten minutes. We can make it." Danny shrugged with a kind smile.

"Oh, well, okay...sure." Paulina blushed. Again. Why had she been blushing lately? Her heart belonged to Phantom. Phantom! Not Danny! But when she looked up the first thing that she saw was that cute, small smile that sent her heart into overdrive. She nodded with a broad smile. Danny gently slipped his and lead her down the road.

The movie had turned out to be romantic and, when it was done, they began walking back to their home. "We're here."

Danny smiled as they

"Thanks for taking me in Danny!"

Danny shrugged. "It's fine. It's not like you were doing anything wrong. You were just lonely, right?"

He flashed a small smile as he glanced back at Fenton works. Suddenly, guilt washed over her. Danny was sweet -not to mention cute. And she was always mean to him and that one time when she went to the dance with him...

Paulina swallowed nervously. "Danny, I'm sorry. The last time when I went out to the school dance with you...I was sort of-"

"Using me just to make Sam jealous? Being shallow? I kind of figured that out." Danny paused and glanced down at her face. "I just refused to accept it because of the major crush on you. I mean, until you flipped me off. Then I guess my crush ended."

Paulina felt a sinking feeling inside her. She pulled her gaze away from the floor and focused on his eyes. His blue eyes...his icy blue eyes...

Then it clicked. "Hey! Wait a minute! Your eyes are just like-"

An ecto-ray shot out and hit Danny on the back. A pair of red eyes turned to look at her. "Well, well. Looks like I'm going to be getting the reward a lot quicker than I thought."

The creepy ghost with horrible clothing smiled. He grew bigger and bigger and the last thing she saw before everything went dark were scales.

**A/N: I know, it;s late. BTW I'm watching gnomeo and juliet. Cute movie. And, yes, teenagers DO watch cartoons every now and then. Don't judge me! But you **_**can **_**review. :3 just press the little button labelled 'Review,' ok?**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Finally! Chapter 8! And still...not very many reviews. ~sighs~ I guess I had it coming. I mean, I've never told anyone (not even my sister) that I'm publishing DP stories on fanfic. It's my little secret. So enjoy!**

**Once again, I don't own Danny Phantom. ~long pause~ Okay. That sounded boring...how about this? ~runs outside and screams out~**

**"I DON'T OWN DANNY PHANTOM!" ~runs back inside~ Ok, on with the story. :3**

Paulina groaned and her eyes fluttered open. "Good morning, my princess."

She yelped and sat up instantly. She was in what looked like a cramped carriage. A carriage that constantly hit uncomfortable bumps and the painful, metal shackles on her hands didn't help at all. She blinked rapidly and let her eyes adjust to the darkness. The area was small and cramped, and...

She focused her eyes on a form that lay on the floor beside her. She hesitantly shifted closer to get a better view.

It was a boy with raven hair and a cute face. She gasped.

"Danny!" She scrambled over to him (not that they had much distance between them) and pulled his head on her lap. "Danny! Wake up! _Tonto!_"

He groaned and peeled open his icy blue eyes. "Oh, what hit me?" He rubbed his head.

She began furiously fiddling with her hair. "Th-the ghost! He kidnapped us! _Esta loco el espiritu! Nos va matar!_"

"Paulina! Calm down." Danny instantly took her hands in his. Paulina blinked. They were surprsingly cool to the touch...but strong and comforting. "Can you describe the ghost, Paulina?"

"Uhm, ok." Paulina paused as she momentarily pictured the ghost in her mind. "Long gray hair, red lizard eyes, fangs, the most hideous outfit-"

Dann's eyes widened. "Did he have a green amulet that looked like a lizard eye?" Danny questioned.

"Yes." She saw Danny's eyes flash with sudden anger. She ignored it and continued. "But now that we have the time to ourselves we need to talk." Paulina grew serious."Your eyes are-"

The carriage lurched to a sudden stop."_Ay! Puta!_" Paulina cursed loudly. _"No puedo tener ni UN minuto con este ni__ñ__o!"_

Danny quickly tensed up and for the first time she noticed glowing green shackles around his hands. The hands that quickly released her own much to her disappointment.

A black and purple knight with a greek skull emblem on his chest swung open the door. Paulina rolled her eyes. "Oh please! The 'Knight in Shining Armour' theme is sooo last year." Paulina scrunched up her nose with disgust as the burly man roughly pulled her out of the hideous carriage.

"Hey!" She snapped flashing her cold stare at the ghost more annoyed than angry. "You bastard! You better stop pushing me around like that before I claw your eyes out with my perfectly manicured nails!"

Both Paulina and Danny suddenly froze. And not JUST because there was an unusually large amount of guards dragging them to the palace

"Whoa!" Paulina breathed. They were in a strange new place where everything was either green, blue or purple. The castle seemed to ominously tower over them and being 'escorted' inside wasn't any better. The castle was as dark and creepy inside as it was outside. And Paulina immediately knew she was in the Ghost Zone. She heard a familiar voice behind them.

"Well, well, well. It seems I now have the halfa _and _my bride." A voice rumbled from behind. Paulina twirled around to see a familiar face.

"Aragon." Danny spat the name out as if it were acid. "What do you want now?"

"Wasn't it obvious? I wanted the fair maiden, Paulina. I still need the perfect wife. Someone who possesses the capability of unlocking the power that I need."

"Power? What power? And where's Dora?" Danny hissed. Paulina blinked. He _knew_ this guy?

"Well, since my dear sister refused to cooperate with me, I've decided to put her away for some time. Besides, she is useless to me now that I have taken back the throne. Instead, I need her." He pointed to Paulina with an ugly sneer planted on his pale face. "For now, you shall be held in the dungeon and I have created a unique one just for you, peseant." Aragon smiled evilly then pulled his gaze away from Danny and his red eyes focused on Paulina. "As for the new princess, she will be staying up here in the castle. I must be departing soon anyways."

Paulina blinked in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me wench! I shall be departing this instant. Guards!" He barked. Three guards immediately came towards Danny who instinctively swung his arms and smacked one across the head, then he twirled and elbowed the other in the stomach. He jumped up and made a flip mid-air before landing easily on top of another guard. More of them instantly arrived and surrounded Danny despite their obvious fear of him.

"No!" He bellowed. "You leave Paulina alone!" The guards quickly dragged a struggling Danny away and disappeared behind a wooden door.

"Do not even bother trying to escape wench." The prince glared at her with rhis terrifying red eyes and dragged her in the opposite direction."

He then slammed her into another depressing black-and-purple room before flashing her an evil smile. "This place is locked up tighter than you can ever imagine."

He turned and exited the room. Paulina glanced up at a guard that stood right behind her. She waited for what seemed like a long time before slowly making her way towards the moldy bed. He followed. She rolled her eyes. "If I'm going to be princess. You have to treat me like one." Paulina snapped. "Now go get me some water. Now!" She ordered him.

The guard nodded mutely and exited the room. Which meant it wasn't locked. She smiled evilly then took the opportunity to escape. She reached out to open the purple door and, instead, fell right through it landing in the middle of the hallway. Paulina grinned and thought '_interesting._'

Danny was quickly thrown into the dungeon. It was big and green and lit ooked an awful lot like the ones he saw in the movies. Only this time, the bars glowed an iridescent green color. He cautiously stood up and glanced around, taking in his surroundings. Just a single empty, moldy cell that smelled an awful lot like wet towels. He sighed and quickly analyzed the bars. Most likely a ghost-proof cell...with the key dangling on the wall right across from him. He also noticed that there was only two guards parked outside his cell. Just two. He glanced back at the shiny metal hanging from the wall. If he could only get that key...

He froze hearing a commotion outside. He could make out one of the guards voices."She what? We must search for her before the Prince returns!" There were a few more cries that was soon followed by silence.

Danny stood up and automatically gripped the bars in an effort to glance outside wich he instantly regretted as a sudden blast of electricity shot throughout his body. He screamed with agonizing pain and immediately released the bars, all the energy drained from his body. He gasped and collapsed onto the floor panting heavily.

Black spots blurred his vision and he could barely make out faint noises which was followed by a voice that sounded far away.

"No," he muttered shakily, "have to save Paulina..."

He felt a hand support his head, "Danny! It's me. You see? I'm fine." He blinked a couple times as his vision returned to normal. "Paulina?" He mumbled as the pain began to subside.

"Yeah." Paulina answered. For some reason, she sounded extremely worried. "What happened?"

"The bars elecrocuted me." He replied, his voice stronger now. He glanced back at the glowing green bars wearily. Those things almost made him pass out.

"They didn't electrocute _me._" Paulina pointed out glancing back at the glowing bars. They were obviously ghost proof but why would they affect Dann-

Danny sat up slowly. "Wait, where are the guards?" He asked interrupting her thoughts.

Paulina smirked. "Looking for me. I figured out that they're not the brightest ghosts in the Ghost Zone." Then her cheeks turned a rosy pink color. "Were you really thinking about rescuing me?"

Danny then blushed and nodded as he rose to his feet. "It's kind of my job."

Paulina frowned. _What did he mean by the _'it was his job'_ statement?_ "Thank you again. And I'm so relieved that you;re okay. I mean, imagine what would have happened if..." she realized she was rambling but she couldn't stop. At least, not until Danny slipped his hands into hers. She looked up and froze. Danny's face was merely inches away from hers. Just a little closer and their lips could meet...

"We need to get moving." Danny whispered instantly pulling back. Paulina nodded and Danny gently tugged her out of the cell, careful not to touch it himself.

"Okay, first we need to find Dora." Danny opened the dungeon's doors silentl. His voice dropped to a whisper. "She'll help us out...and maybe answer a couple questions."

_Dora? Aragon? Halfa?_ Danny seemed to know a lot about these ghosts. _And_ they acted terrified of him. And his icy blue eyes...they were identical to Phantom's minus the glow. Something was up.

"Danny? How do you know so much about this?" Paulina inquired with a suspicious tone.

Was he somehow connected to these ghosts? And even if he were, why fear him?

She narrowed her eyes as he dragged her through the castle. She knew he was hiding something. _Could it be...? _

She shook her thoughts away. No, no. Not possible. Two guys? One in the same? She shook her head and nearly laughed out loud. Not possible. Or was it...?

**A/N: Finally, Ch.8's done. Anyways, Ima go and type up Ch. 9. Please review. I'm desperate to know how I'm doing. And thanks to all my reviewers:**

**M0mo**

**WaitingForAKiss**

**And especially EasternBlueBird.**

**I owe it to you guys. And thanks to the other random readers who added my story to alert or favorites if you review, I'll mention your names here. **

**:3**

**Ch. 9 will be posted as soon asap**

**And here's a translation to one of the sentences. "_No puedo tener ni UN minuto con este niño!" = I can't even have ONE minute with this boy!_**


	9. Chapter 9

**Two chapters got deleted as I write this (ch. 9 and ch. 10), so I'm adding **

**them now.**

**I don't own DP.**

The sound of a trumpet vibrated through the air. Paulina snuck a glance back and dared herself to look at the beautiful, gothic architecture that was the palace.

Knights had already begun to steadily pour out of the eerily beautiful castle.

"Okay. There's only one place I know of where Dora would go to in an emergency. There's a cave not too far from here, hidden in the forest." Danny heaved, but continued speaking with a clear voice. Paulina tried to keep up.

"Dora?" She questioned.

"Yes, Dora." He repeated in annoyance. "Just follow me, and I'll explain later. We'll stay there as long as we can. Hopefully, we'll find a way to escape."

Paulina nodded mutely and remained in silence as she continued to follow him.

After ducking through the gnarled arms of the trees, the two teens arrived at the creepy cave, having only consumed a few minutes. From a distance, the cave resembled a small, inconspicuous rabbit hole. But, upon arrival, Paulina gaped.

It was defintely a lot larger than it appeared at first glance. And, from what she could see standing in front of the entrance, it was creepyin there. Dark.

Paulina surprised herself when she didn't even hesitate in following Danny inside. Only to find herself astonished once again. The cave was huge and dimly lit, enough so that her eyes could quickly adjust to visualize the area.

Two figures approached them.

One of them, she noted, was a lovely damsel. She had fair skin and bright red eyes that Paulina inferred had once been blue.

The woman had prominent, high cheek bones and beautiful, blond hair that tumbled down into loose, long waves. A sparkling tiara perched proudly upon her golden locks, and a gentle smile illuminated her features. A long, filthy, light blue medieval dress was draped over her petite body; the hem of the fine silk was torn and the rest of the dress was filthy.

Walking beside the elegant beauty was the complete opposite. It was a lanky geek with horrendous overalls, a tie, and dorky glasses. The young teen (he and the princess, it seemed, was around their 18) was slightly taller than the two girls but a tad shorter than Danny. He had burgundy eyes and buck teeth that, in all honesy, were in dire need of fixing. His hair was combed and gelled into a ridiculous style and he, overall, he seemed to have a dull aura that was smudged with bits of color here and there. His skin was a sickly pale-ish, tan color and his lips were a pale pink.

"Well, well, well," he spoke in a nasally tone, "if it isn't my old friend, the halfa."

"Poindexter," Danny nodded respectfully, then turned and bowed slightly at the medieval damsel. "Queen Dora."

"Queen?" Paulina sputtered. Danny glanced at her and she gave the princess -_Queen_- an awkward curtsy.

"What's Poindexter doing here?" Danny questioned.

The maiden smiled, a faint blush tracing over her cheeks and small nose. "Well, Lord Poindexter has decided to court me," she admitted shyly. The ghost named Poindexter beamed.

Paulina gaped. _That dork was the Queen's boyfriend?_

The queen parted her lips and spoke again. "Lord Phant-"

"Um, you know what? Just call me Danny." The raven-haired teen anxiously flashed nervous glances at Paulina who blinked in confusion.

Dora wore an equally befuddled expression as she stared at the boy. "But-"

"Listen, Fenton," the boy interrupted, "My girl here's been weak ever since the duel with Aragon. When he took over her kingdom, he stole some of her energy. She's been recuperating ever since."

"You fought that creep?" Paulina gaped, remembering the creepy, thin man.

"Oh Heavens," the queen scoffed. "It was hardly a fight. My brother's power has depleted since the day I defeated him in battle. With the aid of Sir Daniel and Lady Samantha, of course. But, a few days ago, he managed to get a hold of his amulet again. It seems he was in league with one of my guards."

"What?" Paulina shouted at the mention of Danny and Sam's names. Dora placed her slender fingers over her lips as if realizing her little slip up.

"Did I say something wrong?" She inquired.

"So, what brings you to this sde of the Ghost Zone, Danny?" Poindexter questioned, purposely interrupting his girlfriend.

"Paulina was kidnapped." Danny explained. "There was a bounty on her head. I guess Aragon's still lookin' for a wife."

_Bounty?_

"A wife?" Dora interrupted. "My brother had vowed never to wed another since the previous incident with your lady friend." Dora blinked. "Why would he suddenly want a human bride after months of griping and complaining about how useless women are?"

"Well," Danny replied thoughtfully, "He did say something about her being a key of a prophecy or some other nonsense."

"Key?" Poindexter repeated.

"Key." Danny confirmed.

And, suddenly, Paulina stomped her foot and gave a brief screech. "Danny."

She hissed. "A word."

The human-ghost hybrid visibly shuddered as he followed the hispanic girl. Here was the old Paulina everyone loathed and hated.

She led him to a corner before spinning around to face him. She openly glared at him coldly and pursed her lips, straightened up, and released a gleam of hatred thay peirced in his own eyes. Paulina tossed her hair over her shoulders before crossing her arms over her chest. _"Puta de madre, dime lo que esta pasando! Ahora mismo. _Now. Tell me what's going on."

"Paulina," Danny sighed,"I know you're confused but...I..." Danny hesitated, "I sort of know those two." He quickly gestured towards the whispering couple. "And Aragon, the dude that kidnapped us. And a few other ghosts." He sighed again in defeat. "My parents are ghost hunters and...they think all ghosts are evil. But I don't know agree with them. I've helped out a few ghosts when they needed me. I'll explain it to you later, but we need to help Dora..."

Danny's voice trailed off as Paulina's eyes travelled away from his face and wandered over to gaze at a spot somewhere behind Danny. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. Danny turned his head slowly and followed her train of focus only to find Poindexter. Kissing Dora. On the lips.

"You know, I never expected that," Paulina whispered, snapping Danny's attention back on herself.

"What?" Danny dumbly asked. "That a medieval ghost queen would date a died-in-the-fifties' ghost?" Danny openly stared with her.

"No." Paulina rolled her eyes, though she did admit that was also rather odd.

"I just never expected someone as gorgeous as Dora would actually have the nerve

to kiss someone like _him_."

Danny's stare hardened as he turned to glare at Paulina. He should've known. The latina was the same bitch she'd always been. As much as he'd hoped, nothing about her had changed.

"It's romantic," she murmured sadly, surprising Danny.

"What?" he blinked, stupefied by her comment.

"N-nothing." Paulina's longing gaze morphed back into her original snobby one. But, she hadn't quite managed to hide the raging blush that flooded her face.

Danny's smirk caused Paulina to scowl. "Anyways," he interceded, raising his voice enough so that the odd couple could hear them, "we need an escape plan. And, we need to get Dora back to her castle. It really seemed like you guys were doing a great job with the kingdom. Like you were bringing back the Golden Age."

"You mean like the Renaissance?" Paulina piped up enthusiastically.

"The what?" Danny blinked.

"Reinassance." Paulina replied, glancing around as if everyone should know

what that was. "A period in which Europe's art and literature dramatically changed their culture?" She offered.

Everyone blinked.

"That actually sounded...smart." Poindexter noted.

"What?" Paulina snapped, "English and History are my favorite subjects. Sue me." She rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips.

"In any case," Dora sighed, "My health is nearly recovered and I believe I can go out into the battlefield now. But, I don't believe I have enough people to aid in overthrowing my brother again."

"Everyone else was thrown in prison," Sydney (that's Poindexter's first name, btw) cut in. "Anyone and everyone who was against Aragon were captured. A few of us escaped and went our seperate ways. We also have weasels on the inside, sending us information."

"Yes. And, I believe we can formulate a plan and escape." Dora muttered, placing a finger on her chin.

"Well, what about me? I wanna help too." Paulina frowned.

Danny put a protective hand on her shoulder. "Not a chance, Paulina. You don't have anything to defend yourself with. we can't risk it."

"Oh, and _you _do?" Paulina snapped.

"Yes." Danny glared at her. "As a matter of fact, I do. My parents are professional ghost hunters. I may not look it, but I'm _more_ than capable of fighting for myself where as _you're _not. Besides, Aragon wants _you_ for something, and I don't know what."

Dora's gaze hardened. All of her princessy façade instantly melting into a

beautiful, warrior-like expression. "We need a plan."

**A/N: That's all for now folks! I Updated! Whoop Whoop!**

**Lol. Anyways, thanks to those of you who have taken the time to review. **

**;)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Ah. College applications sure are stressful.**

**Shit.**

**I just remembered my french homework. I can't afford to have more missing assignments. I have a C. That's my lowest grade by far. I needa get it up!**

**So, I'll try to make this as brief as possible.**

Dora sighed and leaned back against the wall of the cave. Danny and Poindexter were busy mapping out Dora's lair, searching for all of Dora's knights' secret locations.

"So, I understand that the guys are just acting all tough and you have knights to back you up, but..." Paulina paused and met Dora's red eyes. "I don't understand how _you _can fight and I can't."

Dora blinked surprisingly before smiling. "First of all, I'm a ghost. And, I've had experience fighting other ghosts. Second," she hesitated before continuing, "my brother, Aragon, and I were both blessed and cursed with the safety of our precious amulet." Dora's hand flew to a spot right below the neckline, but the amulet was hidden behind her lengthy dress. "With the power of the amulet, we had the ability to transform into large dragons. It was in our blood. My father and his sister handed it down to us because we were destined to rule together. At first, my brother was the ruler. He and my father had convinced me that a princess's place was to smile and obey the king. But, then Lord Daniel and his friend, Samantha, showed me the truth. I gained back my power and the Dark Ages finally came to an end. I was queen. Some of my people even moved on."

Dora smiled and pulled out the amulet. Paulina gasped.

A beautiful, golden chain hung aroudn the queen's graceful neck, sparkling proudly. But, perched right above the queen's bosom was a red stone that didn't just resemble a lizards -no_-_ _dragon's_ eyes, but it also sparked something in Paulina's memory.

"Hey, that's the amulet Danny gave me." Paulina stated bluntly.

"What? Oh, heavens no. This amulet cannot be worn by any mortal without having disasterous effects."

"No, I'm positive." She insisted. "Danny gave it to me a couple days before prom."

Dora's eyes widened. "_What? _How long did you wear it?"

Paulina blinked, slightly taken aback by the sudden question. "I don't know. Two, maybe three days?"

"And, you're not dead?" Dora gaped in an unqueenly matter.

"No...I'm pretty sure I'm still alive..."

The royal woman's eyes widened. "Everytime someone who was not of our sacred race wore the amulet... well, they died after wearing it for a total of twenty four hours. The power's too much for anyone to handle. Whether dead or alive. It is why it belonged in ours, along with two other family lineages."

"Maybe I'm part of that family." Paulina offered. "'Cause all that thing did was make me feel stronger."

"No. It's impossible." Dora replied firmly. "We have traced the blood of everyone capable of handling such power and I am _certain _you are not it."

"So, maybe Aragon knows something we don't. Something about the key?"

"No. The prophecy says that only a draki can harness the power of the amulet without actually _needing _the amulet itself. And, anyone who kills the draki absorbs its powers. So, unless you're secretly a dragon in disguise, I highly doubt that's you."

Paulina nodded. "Of course not. I am _so _not a dragon. Trust me, I would've noticed. Besides, do I _really _look like a gigantic, fire-breathing monster?"

"Actually, yes. You seem to be the type of person to have short tempers. And, besides, _I _don't look like a monster either, now. Do I?"

"Hey," Paulina snapped, "I'll have you know that my former therapist helped me control my anger. I am now a bitchy _but calm_ person."

Dora's eyes widened briefly before she glanced away thoughtfully and quietly muttered under her breath. "Our dragon form is unlocked through powerful emotions. Maybe..."

"Dora, it's time to go." Poindexter smiled as he gently helped the lovely woman to her feet. Dora glanced at the floor as she steadily rose to her feet.

"Perfect." She smiled and raised her eyes.

Vertical slits had replaced her round pupils and her amulet had begun glowing brightly.

Danny squeezed Paulina's shoulder. "We're ready."

**A/N: Anyways, there wasn't much spanish cuss words, so I brought a list here to make up for that.**

**Cabrón= It means goat. The closest expression I can connect it with is *sshole. It's **_**not**_** a nice thing to say. Even though my family says it to each other all the time.**

**And, my sister just asked for the spanish equivalent for "Son of a b*tch" which would be Hijo de Puta.**

**I don't usually cuss, but I know how fun it is to learn foreign cuss words.**

**Now, off to finish my french homework!**


	11. Chapter 11

**If I'd named all my chapters, this one would be called fire and ice. You'll see why.**

**I still don't own Danny Phantom. Enjoy!**

Paulina leaned against the mouth of the cave, watching the two ghosts and the human (or so she thought) as they quietly waited outside.

She was extremely concerned. A few hundred knights had arrived at the castle moments ago, and had patiently listened to their queen as Dora explained their plan. The knights were divided into groups of thirds, each section would be led by either Danny, Poindexter, or Dora.

Paulina watched in amazement as Dora's small body shifted and enlarged. The blonde's skin faded into blue shimmering scales, her tiara morphed into green horns, her teeth elongated to become fangs, and her short nails extended into long claws; the whole metamorphasis lasted a few seconds. Dora had transformed into a large, stunningly beautiful dragon.

Poindexter smiled and stroked the beast's side before proudly climbing onto her back.

The latina furrowed her brows and frowned as she watched their tiny amount of warriors race towards their impending doom.

:~:~:~:~:~:~:

Danny ran off towards the castle, bounding after Dora and Poindexter. It was still weird seeing the geek riding the Dragon Queen again. **(1)** The nerd ending up with a hot princess who just happened to be a rebelling dragon was a little strange. They were an odd couple, but both seemed happy.

Once the cave was out of sight, he let two rings appear at his middle.

Their knights had decided to strike Aragon from behind.

Danny-as-Phantom caught sight of Aragon standing over a podium, gazing at his equally small army. It was obvious he didn't have very many followers supporting him.

"Find the girl! We need her! Now!" he roared. All of his knights' eyes widened as they fearfully caught sight of Dora. Aragon tensed then glanced back and took notice of the approaching knights and their queen.

He growled and took a step closer, allowing his larger army to take the lead as he immediately transformed into his dragon form, which was a larger, black-and-purple dragon . The coward didn't even have the decency to lead his own warriors.

Danny glanced up as Dora and Poindexter flew closer to him. The dragon revealed her sharp fangs which Danny assumed was a mischievous smile. "I am going to fight my brother. Sydney, you take that half of the army, and Danny will take that half." She ordered. "If worst comes to worst I want you to fight Aragon yourself." Dora glanced at the halfa with a weary gaze, and Danny had an unsettling feeling that Dora was still feeling pretty weak.

The white-haired teen dipped closer to the ground as well, floating closer to the ground as he instantly began shooting ecto-rays at the knights. Poindexter leaped of his girlfriend's back and landed gracefully on his feet before he took on the other half of the guards with surprisingly good fighting skills. He swung his sword and waltzed around, slicing through his enemies with fluid movements. His enemies disappeared upon contact and Danny wondered what had happened to the knights.

"Phantom?" He heard a confused shout from behind. He glanced back only to catch sight of a dark-haired, blue-green-eyed girl.

"Paulina? Didn't I tell you to-oof!" He yelped feeling someone ram into him...hard. The impact of the metal sheild sent him flying and falling flat on his back. He groaned and touched his side feeling something unusually warm.

"Oh my God!" He heard Paulina gasp as she collapsed beside him. She set down a sword that she had apparently stolen from one of the knights. "Y-you're bleeding!" She glanced at the glowing green liquid that flowed out of his injury. He was silently hoping she didn't notice the red flecks that appeared.

Danny sighed in defeat. Unless Poindexter and the remainding few warriors managed to fight off the approaching knights, Paulina and Danny were doomed. He bit his lip nervously and tried to ignore the searing pain that erupted from his side.

"Where's Danny?" She demanded.

"Uh, last I saw him, he was wounded. He, I think he went to find shelter." He sighed and gazed up at her with sorrow-filled eyes. "I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you better," he breathed. "You have to run, Paulina."

He needed to stall for a couple more seconds because he was certain that would be enough time for his wound to heal at its supernatural speed. But, there was no one there to hold back the knights that were already closing in on Danny. The best thing to do was have her run. And then...what?

Danny drew a sharp intake of breath as he stared up at a furious Paulina. Her rage-filled eyes reminded him of a ruthless murderer he'd met at Walker's prison.

"Oh no! They did _not _hurt my Danny! And, you did _not _just give up _Phantom_!" She growled an inhuman growl and the impossible happened.

The cheerleader's eyes immediately transformed into a blood-red color and her pupils turned into vertical slits, identical to Dora's. Long, sharp fangs elongated from her gums and her polished nails seemed to grow longer, sharper, and more dangerous. Large, beautiful, leathery, black wings tore through her shirt and extended into their full length beside her.

Paulina looked lethal, her eyes blazing with an angry fire. "I'm gonna tear their eyes out with my perfectly manicured nails!" She hissed and swiftly got on her feet, positioning herself into defensive stance in front of the wounded hero.

Danny struggled to sit up knowing full well that his cut had already begun to heal. In fact, he could already see the dark green scabs forming. He pulled his gaze up to the battlefield and managed to catch a glimpse of Paulina, gracefully slipping between the knights.

The fight continued and the halfa immediately threw himself into battle the moment his minor injury transformed into a scar.

The sight rendered him motionless for a few milliseconds. Blue flames dangerously danced around Paulina's slender form as she threw out fire balls from her seemingly delicate hands. Danny brushed off the momentary shock and launched himself into the fighting. There was punching, kicking, firing, ecto-blasts, ice, and even scratching in Paulina's case as she tore through her enemy's heavy armour. The number of Aragon's guards immediately began plummeting, and Danny was was beginning to think this was an easy victory.

Paulina and Phantom were caught in the dead center of the battlefield, both of them literally back-to-back. There was only a handful of enemies left. Nearly nothing.

"P-phantom? I know this is really bad timing," Paulina paused and grunted in annoyance as she punched another ghost across the face, "but, I have a question."

"What is it?" Danny shouted as he kicked another one of the black knights.

"D-do you think this boy would say yes if I asked him out on a date?" She paused briefly before igniting a row of her attackers.

"Yes!" He shouted in reply, ignoring the small pang of jealousy that shot through his heart. "You're gorgeous. Who would say no?" He asked and threw a continuous blow of ecto-blasts, shooting down five more of Aragon's followers. They were so organized; it was creepy.

"Danny. Danny Fenton." She replied in a small but audible voice.

Danny froze and glanced back at her, mouth agape.

He was caught off guard when he felt a blow landed on his arm. He growled and shot an ecto-blast at his opponent. "Why would he say no?"

"'Cause I was don't deserve his forgiveness!" She cried as her hands released another flow of deadly fire.

Danny's heart kicked up into overdrive. He used his ice powers and froze many more of his enemies. "He'll tell you he likes you too. He definitely will, trust me."

They both turned to look at each other. He focused his icy blue eyes on her and flashed his famous small smiles. Her eyes widened incredulously and he could see recogniton rapidly lighting her glowing eyes. She opened her mouth to say something when a loud thump came from behind him, cutting her off.

Phantom glanced back and saw Dora, in dragon form, lying in an unconcious, crumpled heap on the ground. She slowly shrank, swiftly transforming into her regular, humanoid ghost form once again. Poindexter immediately rushed to her side and fought off all the guards that were making an attempt to reach her.

He frowned and looked up to see Aragon approaching Paulina. The last time Danny had fought Aragon, he'd lost all too quickly. But, this time, he had a secret weapon.

The hybrid subconciously leaped in front of Paulina as the black dragon quickly approached them, his powerful wings beating rapidly. "Leave her alone you spoiled brat!" Danny bellowed.

"No! I need to sacrifice the blood of the draki to gain more power." The arrogant prince growled as he instantly blew fire from his mouth.

Danny created a sheild around both of them so that the searing fire flew harmlesly past them.

He turned back and flashed the cheerleader a quick glance. "Paulina, cover your ears. And, no matter what happens to me, I want you to run!"

Phantom instantly dropped the sheild and summoned every ounce of his remaining energy. He took a deep breath and released the loudest, most terrifying Ghostly Wail he could muster.

He felt his energy draining all too quickly.

The large, dark dragon and his guards were instantly blown away, all of them flying and crash landing into the forest. The ground violently trembled and the sound waves were clearly visible as Danny's voice continued to echo and destroy everything in its path.

Finally, when all his energy had drained, he collapsed to the floor. The last thing Danny felt was the rings appear on his middle before everything went dark.

:~:~:~:~:~:~:

"Phantom!" Paulina screeched and instantly ran over to where the brave hero had fallen. She froze when two rings appeared around his middle. Each ring seperated, one going up and one going down until they disappeared leaving behind a dirty, unconcious raven-haired boy.

Danny Fenton.

Paulina gaped. She had already begun to suspect, she had already noticed all of the signs, and now...

She had her proof.

She sobbed and fell to her knees beside him, reverting back to her normal, human self and wings folding into her back until they disappeared. A weak-looking Dora and a dirty Poindexter walked up to where Paulina and Danny were.

"That mean bully cost the halfa his energy." Poindexter stated bluntly, glancing back at where Aragon had fallen.

"Lord Phantom has saved our lives once again," Dora muttered. "We shall bring him to the castle. I still have many subjects who are loyal to me and are still trapped inside that wretched dungeon. They will aid us and tend to his wounds."

"He saved me." Paulina murmured as she pulled Danny's head unto her lap.

"Yes, the hybrid constantly risks his life for both humans and ghosts alike." Dora sighed as she slumped against Poindexter. Her red eyes drooping tiredly.

"What about Aragon?" Paulina spat his name out, her eyes flashing red. "Could he be dead. Er, gone?" She blinked, unsure what to call a ghost who died. _Could_ they even die? Each time she'd struck down a ghost, they'd disappear in a puff of smoke.

"My brother will be extremely weak and unconscious. I will send my people to go after him and imprison him. For eternity. Or until he moves onto the other life," the blond queen sighed.

"And, we have destroy that amulet of his." Poindexter added.

Paulina gazed down at Danny and gently placed her fever-hot palm on his cold cheek. He stirred slightly and a small smile grew on his sleeping face. She froze as his eyes fluttered open, allowing his eyes icy blue gaze to meet her own blue-green stare. His eyes widened as he scrambled to a sitting position.

"Wh-where's Aragon?" Danny's eyes flashed a glowing green color as he scrambled up into a sitting position, causing himself to grow dizzy. Paulina gasped and bit her bottom lip. He blinked a few times, his eyes returning to their original color. The teen glanced at his outfit, which consisted of his favorite t-shirt and jeans, and his eyes widened even more.

"Oh no. Don't tell me-"

"Lord Phantom? Are you well?" Dora asked with a concerned look.

He nodded then focused his attention back to the Hispanic girl. "Paulina? How much of that did you see?"

"Well," she began, placing a finger on her chin, "The Ghostly Wail, you passing out and turning human..."

"Oh no!" He groaned and glanced at her with a fearful gaze. "Listen, Paulina. You can't tell _anyone_, okay? None of this, at all. Not to Star, not to _anyone._"

Paulina rolled her eyes. "Of course not, Danny. What? _Yo no soy una bruta!_ **(2) **Besides, I have my own secret to keep too, you know."

Danny's lips tugged up into a small smile that once again set her heart fluttering. "Thanks Paulina."

He steadily rose to his feet with a little support from Paulin, and they were just about to go back to the castle when something hit Danny in the back of the head...hard. "Ow!" He twirled back around.

Danny groaned. "Seriously? I'm too weak to-"

"Danny!" Something white and green hovered several feet above the ground and quickly descended. It was the Specter Speeder with Tucker and Sam sitting comfortably inside it. The two friends had grateful smiles planted on their faces.

"Tucker! Sam!" Danny smiled as Sam lowered the Speeder and parked it nearby.

"Man, it's a good thing technology works here, now." Tucker smiled as the two friends hopped off their ride.

"How'd you guys find me?" He asked with a smile.

"Danny, the Boo-merang is still keyed into your ecto-signature." Sam rolled her amethyst eyes. "We followed that stupidly name device for nearly a whole day."

Danny glanced down at the device that was by his feet and carefully picked it up.

"Hey Sam! Hey Tucker!" Paulina smiled excitedly.

Sam furrowed her brows. "Paulina? Dora? Poindexter? What the heck is going on here?" Sam questioned as she glanced at Poindexter and Dora.

Paulina giggled. "It's a long story."

"Aw! Did the two enemies finally hook up?" Tucker swung his arms around both Danny and Paulina.

Paulina rolled her eyes and smiled teasingly. "No silly! Of course not!"

"We'll expain at home." Danny replied with a weary sigh. Then he turned to Dora and Poindexter. "Dora, make sure to lock up Aragon. _Forever _this time. And Poindexter? Take good care of her."

Poindexter smiled. "I'll beat up any bully who tries to hurt my little princess." He cried out thrusting a fist in the air.

Dora smiled and they both turned and walked towards the castle, hand-in-hand.

**A/N: Finally finished Chapter 9. Now I need to finish Chapter 10. LOL! Thanks for all the reviews! Anyways, I found a BUNCH of errors on this story. Maybe I should retype it and publish it again but error-free? What do YOU think? **

**Oh! And many, **_**many, **_**MANY thanks to EasternBlueBird for the summary! Yes, she gave me the summary. Anyways, about the name of my fanfic. Does anyone think it's too girly?**

**PLEASE REVIEW! I'm begging you! ~gets on knees~ Please?**

**1) **_**Yo no soy una bruta=I'm not an idiot**_

**2) In the episode of Reign Storm, Poindexter is seen riding Dora.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Yay! I'm almost done! So...who owns Danny Phantom? Not me...I'm not **_**that **_**creative. :D please review when this is over! anyways, there's tortillas in the kitchen that are calling my name. You read this in the meantime. ~runs away~**

Everyone gratefully climbed into the Specter Speeder (with Sam driving) and they all flew back towards the Fentons' home. When they arrived, everyone fretted over Danny as they helped the weary teen up the stairs and unto the couch. He insisted on not going to his room.

"Alright. Let's get one thing straight. Do not get Paulina mad, okay?" Danny muttered as he leaned back against the seat's cushions. He seemed exhausted, drained.

"Okay!" Tucker smiled as he flopped onto the couch beside a worried goth.

Sam flashed Paulina suspicous glance as Danny began his explanation. "Well, uhm, it turns out that Prince Aragon was the one looking for Paulina because she-"

Someone knocked on the door. Danny sighed in annoyance as he slid out of his spot. "I'll get that."

He disappeared around the corner and swung the door open.

"Hello Fen-turd. I heard Paulina's here with you." Dash's voice came booming from the door.

"Dash," Danny sighed wearily. "I'm really not in the mood. Besides, shouldn't you be failing a test, kicking a puppy, or beating up someone weaker than you?" **(1)**

Paulina blinked. It was obvious Danny was too tired to fight and, on top of that, he was obviously still weak. She furrowed her brows in annoyance but remained seated, hoping that Dash wouldn't do anything irrational. She didn't want to let the football player know she was here, he was still as moronic as always.

"Can it Fen-toast! And actually, you're totally right!" A loud smack resonated through the room, and Paulina jumped as she caught a glimpse of Danny who went flying and slammed against a wall just as Dash called out, "See you later, Fen-turd!"

Paulina leaped up from her seat, rage building up inside her. Her long fangs erupted from her mouth and she knew that her lizard-like eyes were already a bright red color. Her anger burned through her and a mental of image of a beat up Dash flashed through her mind.

"Whoa!" Everyone instinctively jumped away from her as Danny instantly stood up and rushed to her side. She hadn't even realized she was already walking out the door, ready to show Dash a piece of her mind.

"Wait! Paulina! Calm down! I'm fine, see?" Danny cupped her face in his cold hands, stopping her from moving forward. "See? I'm okay. I had it coming. I shouldn't have said that again anyways. Just breath."

She stopped growling and looked into the weary eyes that still managed to sparkle with light and peace. She sighed and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I was just mad 'cause he totally just...ugh! _Ese pendejo._" **(2)** She took a deep breath. Her cheeks flushed red as Danny pulled his hands away from her face.

She felt uncomfortable while everyone stayed silent. "Oh no! Your sister saw!" The latina's eyes drifted to the entrance of the living room as she caught sight of a familiar red-head. Paulina gasped as she saw his intelligent sister frozen by the doorway.

"Jazz knows about...well, everything." Danny sighed and flopped himself across the couch face up. "She figured it out."

"Uh, what's going on?" Jazz questioned incredulously as the cheerleader's wings retracted.

"Okay. Well, I guess everyone wants to know what happened?" Paulina asked.

Everyone nodded mutely. "Well..." Paulina launched into her story beginning from Paulina walking home with Danny and all the way ending it with Aragon's defeat.

"Okay, so you like Danny?" Tucker asked with a smirk as soon as Paulina finished her story.

Paulina blushed but nonchalantly rolled her eyes and flipped her hair. "As if I'd tell _you_."

"Danny," Sam began, her amethyst eyes still focused on the A-lister, "do you think-? Danny?" The goth glanced away from her and focused on her best friend.

The four teens turned their attention back to Danny who'd fallen asleep on the couch. Paulina fought back a giggle as she gazed at the silent boy. Danny looked cute when he was sleeping: his hair messy, his chest slowly rising and falling...

"We better get Danny up to his room before mom and dad get home." Jazz sighed, interrupting Paulina's thoughts. Tucker and Sam nodded. The goth grabbed him by his legs and the techno-geek by his shoulders. Paulina followed suit. And, soon, each person was asleep in their own rooms.

:~:~:~:~:~:~

"Okay, who's idiotic idea brought us here?" Tucker scowled. He was wearing a tuxedo with a light green tie, the same one he'd worn at his last dance which ironically happened to be the day Paulina and Sam turned to dragons. Danny also wore a tuxedo himself and looked extremely dashing in it, though he didn't realize it himself.

"Oh come on! It's not that bad!" Danny commented. "Dora finally gets to go to the ball and she personally invited _us. _She's royalty. You should be honored."

"But the girls are taking forever! Dora's tailor is a ghost. Can't she just zap it on or something?" Tucker huffed in annoyance. "Leave it to girls to take forever to get ready."

Danny rolled his eyes even though he agreed. Who knew how long it would take the tailor to finish the dresses?

Finally, the girls stepped out, and the boys' mouths dropped open. It turned out, their wait was definitely worth it. Sam was wearing a long dark dress that shimmered slightly under the twinkling lights. She also wore a black choker that had a sparkling purple jewel in the center of it. Half of her the goth's hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail the other half fell in slight waves to her shoulders. Paulina's silk dress flowed gracefully to her feet. It was a soft pink color and strapless with intricate designs that were located at the at the hem. A lovely diamond neckalce twinkled on her graceful neck. And, tonight, the Latina's long, dark hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail with cute curls framing her grorgeous, tan face.

Both girls looked stunningly beautiful.

"Weird, right?" Sam commented brushing her hair behind her shoulders. "Who knew I'd ever wear extensions? But I'm digging the purple highlights."

Paulina giggled, training her eyes on the breathtaking goth. "You look gorgeous!" She admitted.

Tucker held out an arm and led Sam through the grand doors, politely but platonically guiding her inside. Paulina held out her own elbow and smiled as Danny led her into the palace's ballroom.

The room was huge and dimly lit by decorative lights. Some ghosts wore medieval attires and others wore more up-to-date suits. It was a peaceful, idyllic scenery. A long table stood against the wall and it was coated with all kinds of foods. Tucker was by the food stand holding a PDA in one hand as he showed two medieval girls how to work it. They were obviously enraptured by the technology he held. "Wow!" The brunette batted her eyelashes flirtatiously. "You are so technological!"

"Back off! Lord Foley belongs to me!" The blonde with the braid growled. Tucker merely wrapped each arm around the gorgeous girls as they both sighed in adoration, both of them melting under his grip. **(3)**

Danny chuckled and rolled his eyes. Sam was apparently very popular as a crowd of people surrounded her, laughing joyously. Ever since Aragon had captured her, she'd become pretty popular in this side of the Ghost Zone. They'd even offered her to be an advisor, to which she politely declined. He wondered what she did here while she was captured.

"Danny?" Paulina's voice pulled his attention back to her. She smiled broadly and held his blue gaze."Would you like to dance with me?"

Danny chuckled for the second time that day. "This is the first time a girl has asked me...but sure." He took her hand and led her towards the dance floor.

He wrapped his lean arms around her waist and she wound her own delicate ones around his neck. "So did you talk to Dora?" He asked.

Paulina frowned but never broke eye contact. "Yes, she said she would teach me how to control the dragon thing so I won't, you know, do anything I'll regret."

"Oh. So...don't you have any questions about me? About ghosts? At all?" He inquired, slightly surprised that she still hadn't asked any questions.

"A million. But I'll ask the ghost boy later. Right now, I think I'll dance with someone else." She smiled slightly, leaving him stupified.

"What? Who?" Danny asked. For some reason, he was annoyed at the thought of letting her dance with someone else.

"You, silly!" She giggled. "Danny, you really are clueless, aren't you?" Her smile made his heart soar. "It's okay. I think it's cute how clueless you are."

Danny smiled and pulled her closer to him,wordlessly.

Of course, there was still the trouble of people coming after Paulina now. She was also in a lot of danger. But right now, all of those problems could wait.

He slipped his cool hand into her own warm one and everything felt okay.

**A/N: Okay, ~nibbles on last piece of tortilla~ I know. It's a lousy ending for this story. I think I could've added more. Anyways, I don't think it's over just yet. Another idea bubbled up in my mind during Chapter 8. And if I were a reader, I'd be annoyed if there was no kiss. ;D**

**Sam's boyfriend will come in during the next story which I've ironically decided to name Fire and Ice. I don't know when I'll be able to update though. I'm sort of leaving the state for vacations. ~Does a happy dance~**

XD **thanks to all the new reviews and to the people who added my stories to favorites, and alerts. (There's a bunch of you so I won't name them all.) But your comments really mean a lot to me.**

**Oh! Don't forget to review.**

**1) I think that line was also from Reign Storm. I'm not sure.**

**2) **_**Ese pendejo=**_**That asshole**

**3) ****These girls are from the episode Beauty Marked. ^.^**


	13. Many Thanks

**Many thanks to the people who added my story to favorite/alert. More specifically, thank you for those who reviewed, including:**

**Phantomfan, SpeakWithAction, aslan333, need to login, anon, M0mo, Guest, WaitingForAKiss, PrennCooder, aWsOmEcx, and...**

**_Easternbluebird_ for being the one to review throughout everything.**

**I finally finished with this story and I'm moving on to the sequel.**

**If you review, I'll make sure to add your name. ^.^**

****Thanks again!****


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